Quote from: "So, whats in the package of goodies? Can you share? On my plate tonight I got Fable and Second Sight. I can't wait to get into second sight, I think it is really going to keep me interested.[/quote

Let's just say that we all will be doing a LOT of writing in the coming weeks.

ok, you guys are gonna think I'm crazy, but see, they've been airing the series 7 episodes at a time in order from the beginning since the first of the month, and I just got this nifty DVR from my cable company. I've been recording them on my dvr, and then transfering the episodes to dvd through a dvd recorder I borrowed from work. been getting about 5-6 episodes per disc, admittedly at a lower quality (slightly above VHS), but I have the whole series now!

Those MicroMan figures look very similar to the MICRONAUT's of the late 1970's.

I know there was a GG'er who was a big collector of Micronaut toys...he has a website with the pic's...pretty cool old school toys.

In Japan they were called MicroMen originally. I used to have Biotron but that's it- they were insanely hard to find and my parents just didn't get it.

You know what's really cool? Takara has a Godzilla line of Micromen coming out in December. Not exactly sure how they're going to work that, but you better believe I'm going to be anxiously awaiting pics.

Man, this doesn't even scratch the surface of what he's going to have by saturday. My wife's family not only likes to give a lot of gifts, they like to give you exactly what you want.

I always pick out the odd/ hard to find/ imported japanese stuff that he digs and no other kid in the world has even heard of (hence the microman figures- which he actually asked for btw) He's just lucky he's got a game/toy geek dad who- doesn't buy for himself yet lives vicariously through him. Heck, we actually spent LESS on him this year than the last few. He doesn't actually get too much throughout the year either- the occasional action figure or movie, but we usually save it up for the b-day and xmas.

We are throwing a party for him saturday as well. the SpongeBob Moonwalk will be arriving by mid-morning....

btw, have you heard of Godzilla: Final Wars? It's like a modern Destroy All Monsters. Something like 25 monsters are supposed to appear in it. Godzilla even takes down the American Godzilla. I can only imagine how satisfying watching that will be....

Personally, I went through a moral check when I evaluated working on his site. I eventually came to the decision that it was actually much tamer than many of the popular games out there such as GTA:Vice City, Manhunt, etc. I guarantee that if those companies were seeking to put ads on our site we would in a heartbeat.

This review was actually in the works before the forced migration. I hope you all enjoy it, it's a sign of things to come!

There is one matter I would like to unburden myself of, and that is the fact that I actually used to work for TimeGate at the time the original Kohan came out. At first I was uncertain that I should write the review, but in the end I felt that I could give it a fair shake. I hope you agree.

I am still friends with the artists there (hence the shout out ), and I'd pimp their individual websites if they all had one. As it is, you can check out some more work of Tom Woods at Romus5.com. It's good stuff!

edit: I almost forgot- thanks to everybody who submitted screenshots for me. Feel free to post any additional screenshots or even links to game films here.

edit again: Zach Forcher's site can be found here: [url]www.ryaken.com[/img]

When Kohan: Immortal Sovereigns came out in 2001, it brought with it a breath of fresh air to a stagnant RTS genre. With its emphasis on strategy over micromanagement, it pretty much spoiled all other RTS games for me. Now, the long awaited Kohan II: Kings of War is finally out and Khaldunites everywhere are wondering how it stacks up to the originals. Two generations of men have passed since Darius Javidan awoke and led his people in the fight against the Shadow, since the Dark Saadya Ahriman was defeated, and his Ceyah forces broken and scattered to the four corners of the world. Little do the inhabitants of Khaldun realize that a greater evil is stirring...

Graphics - 88/100At first K2’s graphics looked like a pretty good mix of Age of Mythology and Warcraft 3, but after a little gametime I realized that this assumption just didn’t do the graphics justice. The environment in K2 is actually surprisingly immersive. Little touches like the shadows of clouds floating overhead and a herd of native beasties cruising on the periphery of the fog of war really make the land of Khaldun a living world. Unit models are much more distinct than in Immortal Sovereigns and the animations are very polished. Spell effects are downright magnificent. Kudos go out to Zach Forcher, Ricky Pina, Tom Woods, Phillip Morales, Jessie Rolan and the rest of the TimeGate art team for giving us plenty of reasons to not mind the necessary low poly count of the models.

Sound/Music - 80/100While many of the sound effects are carry-overs from the last game (definitely lends some of the old-school Kohan flavor), an area of vast improvement over the original lies in the voice-acting and soundtrack. Sure, a few of the actors ham it up a bit, but overall it’s pretty good quality. The orchestral soundtrack provides a nice aural backdrop that nicely enhances the fantasy aspect of the game.

Controls - 88/100As a web designer and usability nut, I’m really pleased with the controls and interface of the game. The UI is a little bit larger than I would like – covering roughly a third of the screen- however, it is very streamlined and intuitive, with multiple ways to accomplish the same tasks depending on your playing style. I particularly like the way the Kohan and regiment interfaces are now perpetually on the screen in the top left corner.

Gameplay - 180/200Can I just mention how nice it is to not have to worry about whether Johnny Peon is harvesting enough berries? K2, like it’s predecessor, exchanges excessive micromanagement with –gasp!- strategy. Economy is once again very hands-off, and cities have been expanded to include actual buildings within your city walls. I was concerned about settlement spots being fixed in place rather than strategically placed by settler companies, but was delighted to find an autoplacement toggle in the map set-up screen. Kings of War uses the company system again, adding two flanking slots and a wider range of units. I find that this system makes me value my units a bit more, and the company limit which is influenced by the amount and size of your cities requires you to choose your company structure wisely.The 25 mission single player is moderately enjoyable. The plot is definitely more compelling than K:IS was, switching perspectives among the 6 races and 5 factions every few missions, and focusing on the disenfranchised Ceyah and their transformation into the Fallen. It serves as a nice primer to the various unit types and game elements. For the most part, The missions weren’t too difficult, and I started to wonder where the famously difficult Kohan AI had gotten off to. After roughly 2/3 into the campaign, I caught my first glimpse in the form of a Fallen Kohan who thought it was neat to teleport out of battle a mere sword stroke away from death. After two and a half hours of touch-and-go, it was very satisfying to finally hear the piercing shriek accompanied by his demise.Even so, the campaign may as well be a long tutorial compared to the majesty of the multiplayer and vs. AI skirmish modes. The several AIs to choose from are just plain nasty . The only time I have been able to beat one so far was in an unfair 2 humans vs. AI match the other night. Multiplayer is just as fun and addictive as it was on the first Kohan games, and is sure to engage veterans of the previous games as well as first-time players. If you find yourself online, keep your eyes peeled for members of the dev team, as they have been known in the past to get addicted to their own game!

Value / Replay Value - 85/100While I don’t see myself playing through the single player campaign again, I have no doubt that multiplayer and single player skirmish maps vs. the AI will ensure this game stays on my hard drive for quite some time. Players can also make their own custom maps and AIs (in a rare move, the manual actually has detailed instructions on how to use these tools), and the ability to watch and save films of previous games can give the devoted player a way to study other’s weaknesses and observe how tactics play out without the fog of war present. Kohan: Immortal Sovereigns had a fiercely addictive multiplayer, and Kings of War retains much of that same feel.

Concluding ThoughtsThis is a very fun game. While it doesn’t have the hype and sex appeal of those other two RTS games that just came out, it more than makes up for it with a very solid gaming experience. RTS fans beware though, once you get spoiled by the leisurely pace of the game, absence of micromanagement, and the emphasis on actual strategy, you may never want to go back!

But I have to agree with some of the folks here that if certain political (and most likely alot of news items) subjects are off-limits then the spirit of Gone Gold will surely not take root here. Which is unfortunate for me and unfortunate for this board in the long run I suspect.

I'm sorry, not trying to be rude or a little shit, here, but since when was GG primarily a forum for R&P? I was there for nearly 4 years and thought it was a gaming site. I know that's certainly NOT what Rich intended it to be.

Do you really think that religious and political discussion is what the spirit of Gone Gold was? Seriously?

Gone Gold was pretty much just a message board for so long that people forgot/ never knew that it was once an awesome site about GAMING. If anything, we here at CG want to carry on the spirit of that era of the site. Those of you who went to the site JUST so you could post in R&P are missing the point of what we are trying to do here at Console Gold.

Gone Gold's staff consisted primarily of forum moderators, and that's all they had to do. We, on the other hand, write reviews, previews, post news, create custom graphics, go out to the game publishers for special events, generally keep our finger on the pulse of console gaming (and soon PC gaming)- that's what this site is really about. The forums have always been and always will be secondary.

That's not to say that our COMMUNITY will be secondary. On the contrary, Eldon, our staff programmer, has some shit cookin' that will give the community more tools at their disposal for the sharing of gaming love than either site ever had. There are some truly awesome things in the works, and we've only just started.

So censoring peoples abilities to discuss politics, in one forum, away from the on topic or off topic discussions, hurts the forum?

I just want to clear something up - nobody is censoring anybody here. We have valid reasons for being wary of an R&P forum, the chief one being the moderation nightmare of such an entity, and it has nothing to do with censoring our forum members. We have more respect for you than that.

One little comment: I run my rig at 1152x864, and the first topic starts more than halfway down the page! Add in the sticky threads, and maybe 35-40% of the page is actually useful content. That's pretty ridiculous. Maybe a scaling of the big 'CG' logo is in order. Way too much wasted or underused space, IMO.

Carry on.

I'm addressing that. I will have the subSilver theme looking like the yin to subSiilver's yang soon.